Now it's time to say goodbye

I started writing this TV column 28 years ago, when there were only four networks. About 1,400 columns later, I pen this final one amid a cornucopia of media outlets -- not only the three original commercial networks and PBS but also upstarts like UPN and Fox, as well as cable and satellite channels by the score, videotapes, CD-ROMs and the internet.

While the media have changed, the basic premise of my columns has not: Catholics must approach what TV brings into their lives with caution, watching with eyes of faith while remaining committed to using the media wisely on a personal, family and community level.

Time flies

But remember that phrase: "through the years." Time has inexorably marched on. When I began writing about television, I was 26 and had two pre-school sons. Those sons now have pre-schoolers of their own.

And I ain't 26 any more. My daughter, born after I had been writing my column for five-plus years, just graduated from college. As the years moved on for them, my children introduced me to "Sesame Street," "Happy Days," MTV and "Mystery Science Theater 3000."

Editors and readers

In the beginning, a few editors in the Catholic press encouraged me to write a TV column, including my predecessors at The Evangelist: Rev. William Jillsiky and Rev. Kenneth Doyle.

I started small: Only one other Catholic paper agreed to carry the column, which I titled "Tuned In." Then other editors recognized what I believed: Viewers are also readers who want a Catholic perspective on the media from the Catholic press. More and more papers picked up my scribblings, and my words were soon appearing every week in a million-and-a-half Catholic homes throughout the nation.

I am grateful to those editors, literally from Maine to California, who subscribed to my column -- and offered suggestions for making it better. I am also grateful to them for helping me buy the clothes, food and education for the aforementioned children.

Thanks, readers

That letter might have been triggered by my dislike for "The Waltons," which puzzled many readers. Equally baffling to some was my affection for "Nothing Sacred."

In between, I touted everything from "Little House on the Prairie" to "Law & Order," with stops in between for some of my idiosyncratic favorites: "The Simpsons," one of the few shows that routinely deals with religion; "Booknotes" on C-SPAN; and "ER: Life in the Trauma Center" on The Learning Channel, which my wife Mary and I watch with half-closed eyes whenever the surgery begins. Like our children, she, too, has been a TV guide, introducing me to "Antiques Roadshow" and trying, with no success, to get me to like "West Wing."

All done

I have no doubt about the importance of a Catholic newspaper's providing guidance to readers to help them deal with and use the media. I also have no doubt that it's time for someone else to take on that role.

So, with a farewell tug on my ear like Carol Burnett, I fade to black.

(07-06-00)